The HBR article by Prof Clayton Christensen on Consulting Disruption came out in 2013. It was way before any AI wave. The writing was on the wall then. With USD 50 subscriptions to ChatGPT Pro, entire sustainability reports are being written. This situation is a clear warning for lazy consulting work. Such work does not warrant an expense.

Consulting, of all typologies, was never about reports, it was about solving a problem. Clients never paid for EIAs or ESGDDs. They paid for ticking off the requirements for conditions precedent on a loan tranche. It could also be for a construction permit. The shift from risk management and compliance to value creation is never more urgent.

Entry-level analysts will face challenges. Consultants need to add technical expertise. This need is evident from expert hires at the MBB strata too. Cost arbitrage which India and the Philippines brought in for its English prowess is nullified by Grammarly Pro. The Client with a lean ESG Manager with a college intern with LLM can fill up all ESG compliances such as BRSR and CDP.

The knowledge provider ecosystem includes consultancies, law firms, university think tanks, and research institutes. They vie with information providers for the same target audience. The client has plenty of options unless there is a critical reputational capital risk at hand.

Consulting firms will shrink unless the focus is on value creation through implementation support and getting back to the ‘jobs to be done’ focus.

The key question for fellow consultants is:

What are we doing which LLMs cannot do?

Or

What internal teams can suffice as they have domain expertise?

Professional Service Firms that do statutory compliances will sustain. This is especially true in the regulatory sphere such as Assurance. However, tech will encroach there as well. There will be a nudge towards process reforms such as self-verification.

Expertise and Trust are non-negotiable, as Private Banking and FinTech have their respective clientele.